Michigan trooper fatally shot during traffic stop

ROCKFORD, Mich. (AP) — A state trooper who was fatally shot during a traffic stop in western Michigan played a key role in leading police to the person they believe shot him, authorities said Tuesday.

Uncredited

In this Aug. 8, 2011 photo released by the Michigan State Police, Trooper Paul Butterfield of the Hart post is shown. Butterfield was fatally shot in Mason County on Monday, Sept. 9, 2013. Butterfield stopped a vehicle at 6:20 p.m. in Sherman Township and three minutes later a motorist called 911 to report that a trooper had been shot in the head. Butterfield died during emergency surgery at Munson Medical Center. (AP Photo/Michigan State Police)

In this Aug. 8, 2011 photo released by the Michigan State Police, Trooper Paul Butterfield of the Hart post is shown. Butterfield was fatally shot in Mason County on Monday, Sept. 9, 2013. Butterfield stopped a vehicle at 6:20 p.m. in Sherman Township and three minutes later a motorist called 911 to report that a trooper had been shot in the head. Butterfield died during emergency surgery at Munson Medical Center. (AP Photo/Michigan State Police)

The flags fly at half staff at the Rockford State Police Post in honor of the shooting death of Trooper Paul Butterfield on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2012 in Rockford, Mich. Butterfield stopped a vehicle at 6:20 p.m. Monday night, in Sherman Township, and three minutes later a motorist called 911 to report that a trooper had been shot in the head. Butterfield, 43, died during emergency surgery at Munson hospital. A vehicle later was found based the information Butterfield had called in, and police located two suspects at a gas station in Wellston around 8:30 p.m. Police exchanged gunfire, and one suspect was shot. A man and woman were taken into custody. The man was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. (AP Photo/The Muskegon Chronicle, Ken Stevens) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT

Rockford State Police Post Commander Lt. Chris McIntire addresses the media about the shooting death of Trooper Paul Butterfield during a news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2012 in Rockford, Mich. Butterfield stopped a vehicle at 6:20 p.m. Monday night, in Sherman Township, and three minutes later a motorist called 911 to report that a trooper had been shot in the head. Butterfield, 43, died during emergency surgery at Munson hospital. A vehicle later was found based the information Butterfield had called in, and police located two suspects at a gas station in Wellston around 8:30 p.m. Police exchanged gunfire, and one suspect was shot. A man and woman were taken into custody. The man was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. (AP Photo/The Muskegon Chronicle, Ken Stevens) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT

Rockford State Police Post Commander Lt. Chris McIntire wears an honorary black band on his badge as he addresses the media about the shooting death of Trooper Paul Butterfield during a news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2012 in Rockford, Mich. Butterfield stopped a vehicle at 6:20 p.m. Monday night, in Sherman Township, and three minutes later a motorist called 911 to report that a trooper had been shot in the head. Butterfield, 43, died during emergency surgery at Munson hospital. A vehicle later was found based the information Butterfield had called in, and police located two suspects at a gas station in Wellston around 8:30 p.m. Police exchanged gunfire, and one suspect was shot. A man and woman were taken into custody. The man was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. (AP Photo/The Muskegon Chronicle, Ken Stevens) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT

Rockford State Police Post Commander Lt. Chris McIntire addresses the media about the shooting death of Trooper Paul Butterfield during a news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2012 in Rockford, Mich. Butterfield stopped a vehicle at 6:20 p.m. Monday night, in Sherman Township, and three minutes later a motorist called 911 to report that a trooper had been shot in the head. Butterfield, 43, died during emergency surgery at Munson hospital. A vehicle later was found based the information Butterfield had called in, and police located two suspects at a gas station in Wellston around 8:30 p.m. Police exchanged gunfire, and one suspect was shot. A man and woman were taken into custody. The man was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. (AP Photo/The Muskegon Chronicle, Ken Stevens) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT

Rockford State Police Post Commander Lt. Chris McIntire addresses the media about the shooting death of Trooper Paul Butterfield during a news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2012 in Rockford, Mich. Butterfield stopped a vehicle at 6:20 p.m. Monday night, in Sherman Township, and three minutes later a motorist called 911 to report that a trooper had been shot in the head. Butterfield, 43, died during emergency surgery at Munson hospital. A vehicle later was found based the information Butterfield had called in, and police located two suspects at a gas station in Wellston around 8:30 p.m. Police exchanged gunfire, and one suspect was shot. A man and woman were taken into custody. The man was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. (AP Photo/The Muskegon Chronicle, Ken Stevens) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT

Rockford State Police Post Commander Lt. Chris McIntire addresses the media about the shooting death of Trooper Paul Butterfield during a news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2012 in Rockford, Mich. Butterfield stopped a vehicle at 6:20 p.m. Monday night, in Sherman Township, and three minutes later a motorist called 911 to report that a trooper had been shot in the head. Butterfield, 43, died during emergency surgery at Munson hospital. A vehicle later was found based the information Butterfield had called in, and police located two suspects at a gas station in Wellston around 8:30 p.m. Police exchanged gunfire, and one suspect was shot. A man and woman were taken into custody. The man was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. (AP Photo/The Muskegon Chronicle, Ken Stevens) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT

State police Lt. Chris McIntire said Trooper Paul Butterfield provided location and vehicle information to a dispatcher before he was shot Monday evening in Mason County.

"What he did was perfect," McIntire said during a news conference at the state police's Rockford post. "You can't prepare for something like this. He did the right thing."

Butterfield stopped a vehicle at 6:20 p.m. in Sherman Township, and three minutes later a motorist called 911 to report that a trooper had been shot in the head. Butterfield, 43, died during emergency surgery at Munson hospital. Sherman Township is about 80 miles north of Grand Rapids.

A vehicle later was found based on the information Butterfield had called in, and police located two suspects some 15 miles away at a gas station in Wellston around 8:30 p.m. Police exchanged gunfire with the suspects, and one suspect was shot.

A man and woman were taken into custody. The man was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No one has been charged.

"We have a lot to do yet. We are trying to piece the investigation together," McIntire said. "We want to do it right."

Butterfield, who became a trooper in 1999, was a veteran of the U.S. Army. He was the son of a retired police officer and spent most of his time at a post in Manistee before he was transferred to Hart in Oceana County, 30 miles south of the shooting site.

"This senseless incident is a grim reminder that our brave public safety officers put their lives on the line every day when they go to work protecting Michiganders," said Gov. Rick Snyder, who ordered U.S. flags at state buildings be lowered to half-staff from Tuesday through Butterfield's funeral. "They are heroes."